On Tuesday, voters will be asked to approve a proposition that would allow selected inmates to leave their prison walls to volunteer for not for profits that operate for charitable, religious or education purposes.
Onondaga County's Jamesville Correctional facility used to allow its inmates to do charitable work for not for profits but the state put an end to the practice a few years ago.
The New York Corrections Commission raised questions about the legality of letting prisoners work for such organizations, so the state has proposed a constitutional ammendment to reinstate the practice.
Onondaga County Corrections Commissioner Tim Cowin says the proposition expands a work release program in which inmates are already allowed to work on municipal projects like parks or roads. "In every case here it's voluntary." Cowin explains, "they volunteer for the duty and they like getting out."
Until the state intervened, Cowin says Jamesville inmates volunteered for the Salvation Army's Christmas Bureau. Executive Director linda Wright says they would help fill thousands of food baskets for the needy. She says they were always supervised and did not have contact with the public. "For us, working with the inmates...was a natural thing because we work with people that have needs all the time."
Commissioner Cowin says only one or two percent of the inmates at Jamesville are cleared for outside work details. He says their applications are reviewed and approved by several layers in the chain of command, including himself.
The proposition offering inmate work crews to not for profits has not yet received any organized opposition. The constitutional ammendment must be approved by two thirds of the voters.
